IAS exam preparation tips for beginners

IAS exam preparation tips for beginners

Here we are presenting some IAS exam preparation tips for Beginners in the form of Question and answer series .

Question 1) They say IAS exam is the mother of all exams. Is it?

Answer Right because this exam actually checks your patience levels, your temperament, your attitude when you fail and how you depression. Moreover no exam in India is actually as difficult as this one. But in the end, this is just another exam.

Wrong. This is just another exam. The mother of all exams is Life. You can afford to fail in IAS, but not in Life. So, take IAS preparation as a phase in Life, not as your Life.

Question 2) They say IAS exam is not for faint-hearted. Is it?

Yes, better start preparing for IAS soon – it makes you stone-hearted. You don’t want to share your secrets with your friends, You don’t want to tell your relatives that your are preparing for this exam . You don’t want to enjoy parties , movies and outing with your friends and family . Just because you believe that this exam is more important than anything else in your life.

This exam actually is a everyday learning process and you actually learn a lesson everyday. It polishes you more as a human being .

Question 3) One topper in an interview said that she studied 20 hours every day for 365 days. Is this true?

No human being onthis planet can study like a donkey. Don’t believe in donkey work . Carry out smart work in right direction.

May be she suffered from insomnia (sleep disorder). Even now she will be working 20 hours a day as an officer. On a serious note, good sleep is very necessary to prepare well for this exam. It keeps you in good health. Don’t study beyond 12 hours unless you suffer from Insomnia.

Question 4) Now you are saying 12 Hours? Time table

If you have left your job, as a punishment you should devote these many hours. Didn’t you work 12 hours for your company? Anyway, every day at least 8 hours of planned study is required. If you can study more than that, it is well and good. But please ensure that you also get 6-8 hours of sound sleep.

Question 5) My English is very poor. They say I am out of the race. Am I?

No. You are still part of the race. Now you have figured out the problem – that your English is poor. Work on it. All you need is basic English. Moreover, you can write this exam and give the interview in your mother-tongue.

For English one must watch the English news channel DD news only . Watch prime meridian , watch Loksabha & Rajya Sabha Channel

Talk in English with friends , family and try to work on it .

Buy a basic Grammar book – read it, listen to English news on TV and radio, try to write something in English, everyday (don’t worry if it is very bad, keep trying) Necessity should push you to learn. Push yourself. Win the race.

News paper not only improves your current affairs , but also your English . Start reading now.

Question 6) I am worried. I can’t go to Delhi because of some personal reasons. They say it is Mecca for IAS aspirants. Delhi chalo

Can’t go to Delhi? Wow. That’s great.

So true Delhi nai jaogay to IAS nai ban Sakte big Myth .

All those who took their coaching from Delhi are IAS officers (Jhooth hai ). IAS is just another exam you can prepare for same even sitting at Home.

IAS preparation is neither religion nor life to seek enlightenment in a far away concrete desert. Do your duty sincerely, if pleased, almighty UPSC will call you to its shrine, if pleased with your personality, it will give you a pass to Heaven – the IAS.

With Chandigarh definitely being the next hub for civil services aspirants, Chandigarh is no less .

You can crack this exam without coaching 100% true, But what coaching manages to provide you is right direction and right path combined with regular testing. So if you think you can afford it, one should take coaching

Question 8) Oh! So luck is needed for this exam.?

Success is one percent luck and ninety-nine percent your hard work. Don’t let that 99% thing slip from your hand. Toil sincerely, and you will be rewarded with that 1 percent luck.

New tidings slowly come drop by drop from my pitcher gurgling of time’s new sights,
As I count over the beads strung out on my threaded rosary of days and nights.

“Hawaen Un Ki, Fazaen Un Ki, Sumundar Un Ke, Jahaz Un Ke”

“Girah Bhanwar Ki Khule To Kyunkar, Bhanwar Hai Taqeer Ka Bahana”

To them the trade‐wind belongs, the sky‐way, to them the ocean, to them the ship—
It shall not serve them to calm the whirlpool by which their fate holds them in its grip!

Question 9) It was my last attempt. I failed in Prelims. Now I want to kill myself. Help me.?

First, kill your ego, not yourself. You took a journey but couldn’t reach the destination. It doesn’t mean the end of your life or the end of the road – start a new phase in your Life from where you are now. What matters in the end is how well you lived your Life, not how many successes you achieved. If the King has painful piles in his anus, what is the use of diamond studded golden throne?

Question 10) Lakhs of aspirants give this exam and only few get into IAS. I am scared.?

Though lakhs of aspirants apply and write this exam, the real competition is between only 2000-3000 serious aspirants. Those who study systematically and consistently, get into service. If you do the same, you will be one among them. Don’t have fears even before you start. You must enter the race and work hard to win it.

Remember this:“I never did a day’s work in all my Life. It was all fun” (Edison). Make the process fun, enjoy reading, love what you do and do everything to please your heart. Not the society.

Question 11) They say there is corruption in recruiting IAS officers. Is it true?

This allegation is utterly false. The whole examination is so opaque that you have to trust it blindly.

There may be lacunae in the way examination is held, or there may be loopholes in how an UPSC member is appointed, but there is never corruption involved in the recruitment of civil service officers. The steel produced is pure.

Question 12) People laugh when I tell them I am preparing for IAS?

When you say you are preparing for IAS or Say it with utmost confidence .

Tell them just because YOU couldn’t clear doesn’t mean I cannot .

Question 13) I am getting headache while making notes. There are so many books to refer and I want my notes to be the best. What to do?

There is a trick to making notes………. Streamline, Systematize & Symbolize .

Too many cooks spoil the broth, ensure a single set delivery.

When you scout too many sources to make that perfect notes, you end up both loosing invaluable time and discontented. Managing time during the preparation is the most important aspect of this examination.

Read one or two books for a topic. Re-read the same book even if some coaching institution or a publication house releases new notes/book in the market that has become famous.

Question 14) They say IAS is the best job on Earth! Is it?

Ask Durga Shakti Nagpal and many other like her. Its just another job. Which definitely come with great power and responsibility .

Remember every job on earth is the most important and it is you who make it the best . Believe in yourself

Question 15) Some say this exam is like a vast ocean and questions are asked from outside the syllabus, Is it?

UPSC strictly sticks to the syllabus. Though sometimes it seems like questions are asked from outside of the syllabus, they are actually in some ways related to it. For example, if there is a question like this, ‘Opportunity on Mars‘, one should not get bedazzled why UPSC is asking questions from ET source and start answering like, ‘If Nuclear war takes place and the Earth is destroyed, the opportunities on Mars are immense for the Humankind…...’

Opportunity is the name of a Robot that was sent to mars in 2003. Awareness on ‘Robotics‘ and ‘Space‘ is part of the UPSC syllabus (Paper-IV).

Question 16). I keep buying all the magazines and coaching material.? Is it correct ?

Its a trap , buying too many books is not going to help , building a library is not at all correct .

Buy one set of books for each subject and stick to it . Read it again and again .

Question 17) Quit using a mobile phone.

Friends would chat online. addicted to my phone. Promise yourself that I would not touch my phone again. You might lose your friends. But, I hope they would realize soon that you couldn’t help it. Anyways, quitting a mobile phone is not that important, but immensely helpful if done. Its a big time waste.

Mains paper writing can be frustrating could be cold and your fingers would become very stiff due to the cold, and because you are not into habbit of writing answers so this can be a challenging task work on it , keep practicing .

Question 21) Pens – Buy ten different kinds of ball pens. Write around 3 pages with every kind. Then shortlist the best one with which you could feel comfortable, good handwriting and that would satisfy you . Remember your tools do matter .